To key or not to key(board)
Late night musings… what is the role of electronic keyboard for flute students like us in initial phases of our journey. Can it be a tool for ear training or is more of a distraction at this stage where our full focus should be on Riyaz on flute? Thoughts and guidance please 🙏. What was your experience?
CC: @ashwinflute @gandharbhalerao @himanshukanekar @atharvam @shivanand @flutearjun @arvindflute
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This discussion was modified 1 month, 1 week ago by
Anurag.
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This discussion was modified 1 month, 1 week ago by
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Anything that immerses you more into music is helpful as long as it’s not taking away from serious Riyaz time (otherwise it’s a distraction). Also, if you’re going to do keyboard it’s better to do it seriously, e.g. learn to read music notation, learn hand positions, play with both hands, etc.
Thanks Arvind ji. My intent is to use it for ear training only. With keyboard you can do that even late at night etc.
There are different aspects of learning this subject (well any subject for that matter). If the context is ear training then yes it can help you to a great extent. For example, I am training one of a beginner student who has trouble singing in pitch but possesses a basic electronic piano. It’s a step by step ear training program where I ask him to recognise individual notes, note combinations and phrases played on piano. Ofcourse detailed gayaki cannot be played on piano (due to limitation of meend) but one can develop the skill to a good level depending upon proficiency in playing at both ends.
Other than this, I have sometimes witnessed Ashwin sir playing the melody on piano first for , say, a flute dubbing project for any film/song, to probably register the melody and/or understand it’s harmony better. I think ultimately, you should do whatever works for you.
Thanks @himanshukanekar ji for reply. Your method makes sense. In addition I am also using the basic key board to decipher notes of simple tunes. The fact that I can do this even late nights is of great advantage.
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